Monday, November 7, 2011

Corpse Pose

As Dia De Los Muertos came and went, I imagined a Savasana process specifically designed for the day. If I get the guts, maybe I'll try it someday. Savasana is the practice of letting go after building up a great amount of energy and heat through other yoga poses. It translates literally as becoming corpse like or composing yourself to practicing de-composing (as my profound and wonderful yoga teacher Marcela described today). Many years back, I remember the first time I heard (in a yoga class) that lying down in this delicious experience of rest was actually called a corpse pose. I was horrified. Was this really supposed to be a relaxing notion? I was alternately embarrassed and even scared by this association to death. I felt haunted by a movie I'd seen as a kid where a woman was buried alive.

Something shifted after deep practice. I'd become more peaceful about death. It was the surprising thing I reported to my teacher-trainers in closing our intense time of study together almost a decade ago. More peaceful with death. I guess I'd been practicing.